'Sadistic, disturbed' killer says sentence is too long

A WOMAN who "heinously" killed a mum-of-four before dumping her body in a Sunshine Coast forest says she should get out of jail sooner.

Linda Eileen Appleton, and her partner John Edward Harris, pleaded guilty in October last year to the "sadistic, hideous and disturbing" murder of Tia Landers in June of 2014.

The pair pleaded guilty to the six-hour torture and eventual murder of 28-year-old Ms Landers after a Brisbane Supreme Court jury heard five days of evidence.

The pleas followed the eyewitness accounts of two men who were present during the "evil" attack.

Appleton, 44, and Harris slashed Ms Landers multiple times with a machete before Harris killed her with two gun shots to the head.

Appleton then put a plastic bag over Ms Landers' head to make sure she was dead.

The pair wrapped Ms Landers' body in a blanket and buried her in a shallow grave at the Beerburrum State Forest in the Glass House Mountains.

During her sentencing, Justice Jean Dalton ruled the murder was so heinous that both killers should serve life terms and that they should face longer-than-usual non-parole periods.

Normally, killers on life sentences in Queensland would be eligible to apply for parole after serving 20 years.

Justice Dalton ordered Appleton spend at least 23 years in jail and that Harris serve 27 years before becoming eligible for parole.

"The offending involved a protracted, sadistic and brutal torturing of Ms Landers over a period of hours," Justice Dalton said as she also sentenced them both on charges of deprivation of liberty and interfering with a corpse.

On Monday, the Queensland Court of Appeal heard Appleton considered her non-parole period "manifestly excessive".

Appleton's barrister, Elizabeth Wilson, told the court Justice Dalton did not look at "any prospects of rehabilitation" for her client and that Appleton's co-accused was the "primary offender" in the murder.

"He (Harris) shot her in the head twice at close range," Ms Wilson said.

Ms Wilson pointed out Harris had a worse criminal history than Appleton, with the 45-year-old Harris having served 10 years in jail shooting a man whose body was also dumped in the Beerburrum forest

"There was some remorse (from) Appleton and there was a plea of guilty to the deprivation of liberty and interference with a corpse charges on the first day of trial," Ms Wilson said.

Crown prosecutor Jodie Wooldridge said Justice Dalton had "sufficient reason" for attaching a 23-year non-parole period to Appleton's sentence.

"It was heinous offending," Ms Wooldridge said.

"There was a lack of remorse.

"The justice didn't talk about deterrents or prospects of rehabilitation because Appleton was on parole when the murder happened.

"To mention prospects of rehabilitation would have been no more than paying lip-service."